Design Arturo Trujillo - 2002

Can chemistry help a craftsman?

TRIVIA From the seeds and bark of the coral bean tree (Erythrina Americana Mill) he isolated erythrocoralidione, a strong alkaloid used in anesthesiology.

The knowledge of chemistry can help craftsmen in handling metals, dyes for fabrics and wood, shaping clay and a large variety of applications. This is what Leopoldo Rio de la Loza rightly thought when in the mid 19th Century he introduced chemistry as a mandatory subject for medical, pharmaceutical, agriculture, veterinary and crafts students in Mexico.

Leopoldo Rio de la Loza was born in Mexico City in 1807. His father, Don Mariano Rio de la Loza, had a small laboratory, and supplied chemical products to the Mint.

In 1815, the laboratory exploded and Leopoldo became an orphan, with gastrointestinal and respiratory disorders for the rest of his life.

SOME OF HIS WORKS "Introduccion al estudio de la quimica" (Introduction to the Study of Chemistry), "La goma archipin" (Archipin Rubber), "El origen del tequesquite en el Lago de Texcoco" (The origin of Tequesquite in Lake Texcoco), "Azufre y salitre" (Sulfur and Saltpeter),"Drogas medicinales. Ajenjo" (Medicinal Drugs. Wormwood), "Aguas potables de México" (Drinking Waters of Mexico), El liquido tintoreo de la Baja California" (Dyeing Fluid from Baja California), "La agricultura y la veterinaria en la Republica Mexicana" (Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine in Mexico).

Despite the tragedy, Leopoldo continued his education and in 1820 enrolled in the Colegio de San Idelfonso, and two years later he joined the School of Surgery in the Royal Hospital.

In 1827 he graduated as a surgeon and in 1833 as a physician and pharmacist.

At that time there was a cholera epidemic in the city and young doctor Rio de la Loza, served the community in the Hospital de San Lucas, receiving public acknowledgement for his work from President Gomez Farias.

Rio de la Loza worked in many fields, laboratory work, research, teaching, the civil service and scientific academia.

As a scientist he was the first in Mexico to obtain oxygen, carbon dioxide and nitrogen. He installed the first facility for the production of acids in the country. He conducted geochemical tests on the water and rocks of the valley of Mexico and other areas of the country. He studied several medicinal and dyeing plants and synthesized several elements. Finally, he worked intensively in producing the first Mexican Pharmacopoeia.

He was inspector of drugstores and drugs and industrial facilities; general supplier of ambulances and member of the Consejo Superior de Salubridad (Higher Health Board).

QUOTE I shall build the new Academy of Medicine with the flowery debris of the first one

He taught chemistry in the Colegio de San Gregorio and in the Schools of Agriculture, Medicine and Preparatory Studies. He was Dean of the School of Medicine in 1873.

He supported the creation of the National Preparatory School and was founder of the Chapingo Agriculture School and of the chemistry major in Mexico.

He was member of many scientific associations in Mexico, America and Europe. In 1851, he reestablished the Academy of Medicine that had disappeared during civil wars. In 1856, the Industrial Arts Protection Society of London granted him the Gold Medal for his discoveries in chemistry. In 1868, by mandate of President Benito Juarez, he cooperated in the reorganization of the Mexican Society of Geography and Statistics, which he chaired on two occasions.

IMPORTANCE Many streets, schools, hospitals and associations bear his name, as well as the major award for pharmaceutical research in México, the "Dr. Leopoldo Rio de la Loza Award."

In his 69 years from 1807 to 1876 Dr. Rio de la Loza lived through one of the most tumultuous times of Mexico, the War of Independence, internal struggles, two foreign invasions, one empire and the reestablishment of the Republic.

Despite the unfavorable environment, he was able to undertake intense and significant scientific work and in addition, as a personal project, he promoted the professionalization and institutionalization of chemistry and pharmaceutics in Mexico.

Dr. Leopoldo Rio de la Loza, an example of the best of the latin spirit.